Gonzaga's Kispert, Timme among major award winners

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced Saturday the nation's top college players for their respective positions.

Gonzaga took home two of college basketball's major individual awards. Corey Kispert earned the Julius Erving Award as the nation's top small forward, while Drew Timme captured the Karl Malone Award, which recognizes the top power forward.

Iowa big man Luka Garza won his second straight Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award as the top center in Division I basketball. He was named the men's recipient of the Naismith Trophy earlier Saturday.

"To win this award two years in a row is a surreal feeling," Garza said in a statement. "Kareem Abdul-Jabbar represented what it was to be an amazing person and basketball player and was a role model to many, including myself."

Illinois star Ayo Dosunmu won the Bob Cousy Award, which is given annually to college basketball's top point guard. The 6-foot-5 floor general led the Fighting Illini to their first Big Ten Tournament title since 2005 this past season.

"Looking at the field of dynamic finalists, I am beyond honored to be the 2021 Bob Cousy Award recipient," Dosunmu said in a statement. "Winning this award was among the list of personal goals I set when deciding to return to Illinois for a third season, and I'm grateful and blessed to have accumulated a body of work this season that Mr. Cousy and the committee thought so highly of. It's a dream come true."

Lastly, Oregon's Chris Duarte won the Jerry West Award as the country's top shooting guard. The Ducks star averaged 17.1 points, 2.7 assists, and 1.9 steals en route to earning All-Pac-12 first-team honors this season.

"I found out that Jerry West played the one, played the two; he did so many different things really well in his career, and that's how I'd like to be known someday too," Duarte said in a statement. "I'd like to thank my family, my teammates, and my coaches for all their help and support. I couldn't have done this without them."